Talk:comptroller

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"The p is optionally silent, thus comptroller may be a homophone of controller." Huh? Since when does m sound the same as n? Equinox◑ 23:23, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

In New York State and its cities, comptroller is an elected office usually pronounced "controller". DCDuringTALK 09:56, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Even if that isn't just a malapropism, wouldn't the inflection still vary? It should be stated that it's a near homophone which makes pronunciation of the p all that more significant. DAVilla 16:16, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

It is pronounced that way in the swearing-in ceremonies for the offices. That is the first pronunciation given at MWOnline. DCDuringTALK 19:08, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

I don't dispute that it may be a homophone of controller, but I do dispute that that pronunciation is the obvious "visual" pronunciation of comptroller with a silent p. This would require an m sound turning to an n sound. Equinox◑ 21:40, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

It's not just a homophone, it's also the same word and it has the same etymology. The spelling was influenced by French compte but if anyone pronounces the m or p, it would be a spelling pronunciation. —CodeCat 22:57, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Okay, fine, but see my original comment in this discussion. I think it's inaccurate. Equinox◑ 00:57, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

You must be saying that if "the p is optionally silent" it would be pronounced comtroller. Well, it is not what the explanation wants to say. The p is silent, and the m is pronounced n, just like controller. — TAKASUGI Shinji (talk) 04:37, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

Then I really don't understand the explanation. Am I stupid, or will this be even more confusing for most casual users? Equinox◑ 03:37, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

@Equinox: I completely agree. @everyone else: The problem isn't the statement that "comptroller may be a homophone of controller"; the problem is the statement that this is so because "[t]he p is optionally silent". Silencing the <p> does not, by itself, turn the "COMPtroller" pronunciation into the "conTROLLer" pronunciation. —RuakhTALK 18:43, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

But I think the question has been answered incidentally, I mean what other answer do we want other than the one(s) we have? Mglovesfun (talk) 19:06, 14 December 2011 (UTC)